We’ve done it. Well, the vast majority of us have done it.

We’ve reached the end of the 2022 fantasy football season, and I hope it’s been a fun and successful one filled with championships and no lineups desperately starting Gardner Minshew with a title on the line. As we put a bow on the season that was, it’s time to give out some end-of-year awards.

So get your tuxedos on, and let’s dig into the 2022 fantasy football awards!

The 2022 Fantasy Football Awards

2022 Fantasy Rookie of the Year

Last year this award went to Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase. This year, the choice isn’t as obvious. No rookie QB became fantasy relevant in 2022. And the running backs and wide receivers all dealt with injuries, inconsistencies, or both.

There are a handful of honorable mentions worth pointing out: Breece Hall was on pace to be the top rookie in 2022 before tearing his ACL. Dameon Pierce was a steady RB2 on a bad Texans team. Christian Watson and Brian Robinson both started slow but came on strong at the end of the year. And Chris Olave finished as a WR2 despite injuries and Andy Dalton.

But this award comes down to Garrett Wilson and Kenneth Walker. The Seahawks tailback began the season injured but was well worth the wait, finishing as the RB19 in half-PPR formats. Wilson showed a prolific skill set but was ultimately too hard to trust because of shoddy quarterback play.

And the winner is… Kenneth Walker

The Heartburn Award for Most Agitating Player

So many middle and late-round QBs disappointed us. Tom Brady, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott all finished outside the top-1o at the position for a variety of reasons. All of them are honorable mentions. Geno Smith, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff all finished ahead of these big-name QBs, and that’s agitating in itself.

But the winner of this award was a first-round pick, according to ADP, and is an electric talent. He put up nearly 1,000 total yards on just 134 touches and scored eight touchdowns. The problem was his team kept him in bubble wrap. He finished as the RB24, but anyone who rostered him knows he made you nuts every week.

And the winner is… D’Andre Swift

The Matt Ryan Award for Excellence in Ineptitude

I was tempted to make Matt Ryan a repeat winner, but why kick a man while he’s down?

Instead, I want to dedicate this award to an entire team. We expected this team to be a wagon, and it was. It was a wagon missing all of its wheels.

This team had a running back drafted in the second round, two receivers drafted in the first five rounds, and a quarterback many expected would reach MVP heights. By now, you know who I’m talking about.

And the winner is… Russell Wilson, Javonte Williams, Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Nathaniel Hackett, and the entire Denver Broncos organization

The Rising Star You’ll Want to Draft in 2023

Last year’s winner of this award was… Javonte Williams! Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Justin Fields is the obvious candidate for this award. However, after his QB5 finish this season, he might be too obvious of a choice. Fields will probably be one of the first six quarterbacks taken in 2023, and I’d rather tell you something you don’t already know.

Of course, any rookie of the year candidates could be viable winners too. But I like to bring up different names with this awards list.

In fact, we’re going to have co-winners of this award. Both are rookie receivers who finished 38th and 39th in half-PPR formats. The first receiver had just eight catches by Halloween but caught fire late as the top option for a Hall of Fame passer. The latter posted the steadier body of work but was held back by a run-heavy scheme and crummy QB play. Get him a real passer, and now we’re talking.

And the winners are… Christian Watson and Drake London

The One-Year Wonder Award

This is an award for a player who might’ve been a league winner in 2021 but probably won’t see similar success in 2022. Last year’s winner, Cordarrelle Patterson, finished as the RB31 this season, a solid call.

This year, there weren’t a ton of enormous surprises at any position. However, two players come to mind.

The first is Daniel Jones, who somehow finished as the QB7 this season. Ridiculous, considering he threw for just 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns. The key was 708 rushing yards, seven touchdowns, and insanely good coaching from Brian Daboll. I can confidently say Danny Dimes will not be a top-10 QB in fantasy next season if he’s even the starter in New York.

But rather than pick on Jones, I wanted to go in a different direction. One that might not seem as obvious. This year’s winner finished 21st among running backs in half-PPR formats despite rushing for just 285 yards and could be over-drafted because he plays for one of the league’s top offenses.

And the winner is… Jerick McKinnon

The ADP Over-performer

Last year’s winner was Deebo Samuel, who was incredible in 2021. Considering how many options there are, this year’s award is almost impossible to give out. Just take a look at all of these players who greatly defied ADP:

This is a difficult choice! But the winner will be the player who was drafted as a handcuff and turned out to be the team’s star running back.

And the winner is… Tony Pollard

The Player I Was Most Wrong About

Last year’s winner was Jalen Hurts, who continued to prove me wrong this season, putting up a potential MVP campaign. This year’s winner is a player I touted coming into the year as someone who had WR1 potential. He was joining the league’s best offense with the league’s best quarterback and had put up top-level seasons before.

Despite garnering nearly 100 targets, this player never reached the ceiling I had expected and finished as the WR29.

And the winner is… JuJu Smith-Schuster

The Biggest Bust of the Season

When you quickly scan ADP, there weren’t a ton of busts within the first 30 picks this season. But there is an obvious answer. You’ve got to deliver when you’re the consensus No. 1 pick, and 2022 was the perfect storm of regression for Jonathan Taylor. His offensive line fell off a cliff out of nowhere. His quarterback was even worse than the year before. His head coach got fired midseason. And he dealt with an ankle injury that ended his season.

And while Taylor’s 2022 campaign probably sunk a fair amount of rosters, he’ll be one of my favorite buy-low candidates in 2023.

And the winner is… Jonathan Taylor

The 2022 Fantasy Football MVP

There are some really strong candidates for this year’s MVP race. Jalen Hurts put up a prolific season, but his shoulder injury might’ve cost teams when it mattered most. Justin Jefferson was simply incredible, but he’s already set an extremely high bar.

Instead, I’ll give this award to a player who many wrote off (for no reason) entering the season… a guy who people speculated would get traded when he played in the Hall of Fame Game… a player who the market completely disregarded and wound up as the RB3. If you believed in this guy as your RB2 or even RB3, you probably went very far this season.

And the winner is… Josh Jacobs

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